NOOOOOOB here, been lurking for a while, noticed all this talk about tone, settings, speakers, etc, but see no one is experimenting with what really shapes the tone of any amplifier, quality tubes.
I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about.
Tubes today are crap, sound like crap and perform like crap, thus possibly the accurate description of 'farty' sounding. Today's tubes are mostly manufacturered in some Chinese children's prison called a factory, or some other former Soviet gulag facility.
Groove tubes, Ruby Tubes, Mesa Tubes, they all sound like crap in most vintage Boogies because the boogie was developed from the older fender designs, which always used USA made tubes, and all this new crap is made in China. Why Mesa ships with and sells Chinese made crap is obvious, nobody makes vacuum tubes in the US anymore, and they're probably way cheap. My MkIII originally had Sylvania, USA made, power tubes. Okay, cat's out, so to speak.
I retube the pre-amp and power section with vintage USA stuff, some German, and the balance problem often associated between the ryth 1, 2, and lead channels on the MkIII, is now non-existant. That is cured in the pre-amp section. The highs sparkle, feel full and warm at the mids and the bottom is tight and huge. There's plenty of headroom, the distortion is far from 'ratty' sounding, but rich and full. All due to pre-amp and beam triode, (power tube) upgrades.
I see it this way, if the circuitry is the soul of the amp, the speakers are the lungs, then the tubes are definately the heart, and the Chinese and Russians are long overdue for quad-druple, by-pass, coronary surgery.
My sound is so much better than whatever anything else anyone plays, that I can always punch through any mix. I have zero microphonics, no crackles or hiss, and practically eliminated the 'pop' associated between switching from Ry 1 to Ry 2.
Try some and see what I mean, and lose the 'farty', shrieking, sound of the crap that wasn't meant to be put in these vintage beauts.
Here's the best site for what I'm talking about. www.audiotubes.com
As far as settings, I vary Treble, Mid and Bass according to the sound I am trying to achieve, like varying pickups. I like the Presence at about 5, Rev 6-7, and the EQ in the classic recommended upright, V position, it really does make most Marshall players freak out when they hear how much sound comes out of this little 'giant killer'.
Cheers and "Keep the Boogie Faith".
Mustang.